Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
One of the other BBS's that I habitate began talking about sap flow and many folks are already seeing sap flow.
In Kentucky, Pennsylvania, Mass, they seem to have already began sap flow. And they are producing syrup.
With Saturday evening's warm rain washing away some of the ice, and Sunday's warm weather. After church Sunday I went out excitedly and tapped a few trees.
No sap.
And now it looks like that temps will be dropping once again.
We have not tapped before. I wanted to get into this aspect of Maine living this year.
Not too surprised. We just had record warm temps over the weekend here in the mid-Atlantic area, even up into upstate NY (I was in/near Rome over the weekend) it was up into the 40s, and NY City was approaching 60 so you can probably extraploate what that might mean for temps in places such as PA or KY (they sugar in KENTUCKY???!!! Never heard of it, didn't even know sugar maples grew down there). And temps here in NJ have been up and down all winter- very cold at times, normal at others, warm still others. Which probably plays havoc with the sap flow which starts to occur when you have days above freezing and nights below... 3 days of 40 degrees, then down into teens for highs for a few days, then 50s... not sure how the sap reacts to that!
Based on what I've seen in terms of weather data from up in Maine I'd think it would probably still be a little while yet... but from southern NY on southward, it makes sense.
The snow on the roof has been melting alot over the last two days.....and the birds and critters are seemingly getting twitterpated and pairing up......spring is in the air....even if the ground hog did see his shadow.
how long does it take for a sugar maple to start producing sap? suppose you plant a 24"-48" bareroot tree.
THANKS!
It will be awhile before the sap runs...maybe 3-4 weeks or longer. This year we seem to be running a bit farther behind then normal, maybe by two weeks. Typically we have January thaw...well in January, but we saw that this weekend. Now with the return to cold, we are just a bit behind as far as I can tell. The sap will follow. Wood acts as an insulator, but they are frozen pretty deep from that coldest temp on record, and thus it will take more then two days of warm temps to thaw them out.
As for maple trees and production question quotes... a long time for any sizable amount. The volume from a maple tree is in proportion to its crown. That is why shade maples lining the side of the road are tapped so often. They are short and stubby, but the ambient light from the cleared roadway and any fields nearby, creates a huge crown. The size of that crown dictates how much production you get.
Do not quote me on this, but generally speaking a 10 inch tree can get 1 tap, a 18 inch tree 2 taps,and 24 or bigger 3 taps; etc. That is based the fact that trees of that size produce enough to fill those taps. A common trick here is to thin non-maple trees all around the bigger ones so that their crowns spread out and produce more sap. Pails also produce less sap then lines which tend to creat a "suction" by the venturi effect which helps draw the sap out of the tree.
To answer your question truthfully, your children may get a chance to tap one of your planted trees, but for any commercial operation you are looking at your grandchildren...assuming you are in your 30's or so. For that reason, we as Mainer's owe it to ourselves to semi-protect Hard Maple trees for future maple syrupers.
The snow on the roof has been melting alot over the last two days.....and the birds and critters are seemingly getting twitterpated and pairing up......spring is in the air....even if the ground hog did see his shadow.
It will be awhile before the sap runs...maybe 3-4 weeks or longer. This year we seem to be running a bit farther behind then normal, maybe by two weeks. Typically we have January thaw...well in January, but we saw that this weekend. Now with the return to cold, we are just a bit behind as far as I can tell. The sap will follow. Wood acts as an insulator, but they are frozen pretty deep from that coldest temp on record, and thus it will take more then two days of warm temps to thaw them out.
As for maple trees and production question quotes... a long time for any sizable amount. The volume from a maple tree is in proportion to its crown. That is why shade maples lining the side of the road are tapped so often. They are short and stubby, but the ambient light from the cleared roadway and any fields nearby, creates a huge crown. The size of that crown dictates how much production you get.
Do not quote me on this, but generally speaking a 10 inch tree can get 1 tap, a 18 inch tree 2 taps,and 24 or bigger 3 taps; etc. That is based the fact that trees of that size produce enough to fill those taps. A common trick here is to thin non-maple trees all around the bigger ones so that their crowns spread out and produce more sap. Pails also produce less sap then lines which tend to creat a "suction" by the venturi effect which helps draw the sap out of the tree.
To answer your question truthfully, your children may get a chance to tap one of your planted trees, but for any commercial operation you are looking at your grandchildren...assuming you are in your 30's or so. For that reason, we as Mainer's owe it to ourselves to semi-protect Hard Maple trees for future maple syrupers.
I think it be the same for nut trees. My dad used to plant nut trees where ever we moved, (often) when I asked him why when we knew we would never harvest any nuts from those trees....he told me about going out to gather walnuts with this Dad (my grandfather)....so he said when he planted a nut tree that he was planting something for a little boy to go out , years from now, with his Dad...and gather those nuts. I hope and pray that of the ten to twenty nut trees he planted......some little boy or girl and their Father or Mother....are picking up the rewards of my father's memories.
he said when he planted a nut tree that he was planting something for a little boy to go out , years from now, with his Dad...and gather those nuts. I hope and pray that of the ten to twenty nut trees he planted......some little boy or girl and their Father or Mother....are picking up the rewards of my father's memories.
That is so sweet, almost like a Hallmark card
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
